The Legend Begins to Move
by evilsorceress04
Summary: 3 years after the moment in the series when Yui wishes she and Miaka back to reality. In the anime, Tamahome was able to grab on to Miaka and hitch a ride to the real world. Not in this one. Yui has already wished 3 times and Miaka doesn't remember a thin


Chapter 1

(3 years after the moment in the series when Yui wishes she and Miaka back to the real world.

In the anime, Tamahome was able to grab on to Miaka and hitch a ride to the real world. In this

fanfiction, he wasn't able to.)

Miaka Yuuki stared listlessly at the blackboard. _Tick tock _goes the clock. The bell rings. Miaka stretches her taut frame and blows the bangs from her eyes. _Just another day in Jonan high school. _

Golden light streamed through the glass doors but no one seemed to notice except for Miaka. Everybody was in a rush preparing for the 3rd year final exams, but not her. Miaka pursed her lips. If only she had the luxury to go straight home and study.

A smile was always the remedy to every situation, and she was a veteran at pasting grins on her face. She took up her ratty old backpack and was the last to exit the room. As always, she felt a certain twinge in her heart as she gazed at the afternoon light. There were feelings there that she couldn't even begin to understand, but over the years she had gotten used to these spills of yearning, even though she didn't know at all what she was wanted. _Hormones. _Miaka counselled herself.

In her mind, Miaka knew her strange emotions came from wanting to be like any normal student in Jonan High. Normal meant having enough money to pay the tuition, and more than enough brains to get high marks. Oh she wasn't dumb, Miaka knew. But she wasn't as smart as, let's say, Yui Hongo.

Her decision to enter Jonan High had brought a big financial burden on her mother's shoulders, but Miaka was determined and no one had objected. Granted, Keisuke had never quite gotten over the shock that his noisy, scatter-brained sister managed to get into Jonan, but in the end he had been as supportive as their mother.

That was why Miaka worked two jobs for the past three years and hardly ever got out. That's why she was always exhausted. That's why she never got higher than average on her exams. But Miaka supposed that it was enough. No one in her junior high school would have expected her to enter Jonan, much less get this far. She was proud of herself.

Miaka stepped out into the school grounds and plodded her way to the exit. The place was virtually empty of students and nothing disturbed her, except for the rustling of the leaves. A voice whispered softly, rising with the wind. Miaka froze in mid-step and fought the urge to bolt. _What was that? _She thought frantically. _I hate ghosts. Oh my, I hate ghosts! _

She looked around carefully but no one was there. The grassy fields of the school looked like gold slabs in the late afternoon light. The building behind her was empty and silent. Was she really the only one there? A minute passed without anything happening and Miaka started to feel ridiculous.

"Silly Miaka, scared by the wind!" She said out loud and started walking again. If she were younger she would have run around like a crazy person, until she could grab her arm and hear her tell her she was being silly... Miaka's mind drew a blank. Who's arm? Who would tell her she was silly?

It was like waking up from a dream, when one just about remembers something, but eventually doesn't. Miaka stopped again and gave her head a little shake. Who was she talking about?

The school bell rang again and Miaka looked to her watch with a start. It was 5 o'clock already, and she had wasted 30 minutes daydreaming and being scared over nothing. Now she only had 30 minutes left to get to work, and it took about 45 to get there.

She took a running leap towards the school gate. The owner of _Ramen! Ramen!_ wouldn't look kindly on her payslip if she was even a second late. Tires crunched gravel and Miaka saw a black sedan roar to a stop just in front of her. She managed to stop herself in time and watched as a beautiful girl with shoulder-length blonde hair stepped forward to get into the car. Evidently Yui Hongo, the most popular and busy 3rd year student in Jonan High School had just come from yet another meeting of some club she was president, or vice-president of. Miaka couldn't imagine having as much responsibilities as Yui. For that matter, she couldn't imagine even having half of Yui's famous grade point average. _And she has all the cute boys hanging on every word, _Miaka thought wistfully. _It must be so great to be her. _

As if Yui heard Miaka's thoughts, she turned towards her and for a moment, their gazes connected. It was over in half a second, Yui's blonde hair disappearing into the dark vehicle. Miaka stood there and watched the car getting smaller and smaller. If it weren't for the fact that she had never spoken to Yui before, she would have thought the other girl was mad at _her_.

* * *

Twilight descended over the streets of Tokyo and Miaka dragged herself along, trying hard to keep her famous smile on her face. _Everything's going to be okay, _She thought, her teeth gritted down hard. _I'll just skip lunch, that's all. _

She had gotten fired. Miaka Yuuki, princess of smiles and excellent Ramen service, was kicked out of _Ramen! Ramen! _just because of a few lousy seconds. In a moment of recklessness, Miaka raised a fist into the sky and declared, "I'll get a better Ramen shop to hire me, you'll see!" She stood there, glaring at the clouds for a little while before people started whispering.

"That uniform is Jonan right?"

"Is she really from Jonan?"

"Maybe she's a cosplay person or something..."

Miaka blew her bangs out of her eyes and trudged on, ignoring the weird stares and rude comments. "Stick and stones..." She muttered.

The streets were alive with activity. Occasionally a horn blared and a thug would leer at her, but pretty soon she was in her quiet neighbourhood, silently planning the murder of _Ramen! Ramen!'s _owner.

"Miaka! What's wrong?" Tetsuya, her brother's friend pulled up in blue Honda. Miaka paused for a moment and decided to continue walking. The car rolled along beside her.

"I got fired." Miaka mumbled.

"Aaah." Tetsuya nodded his head and grinned at her. "Tough. But it happens. You know how many jobs I ran through before I found the right one. Tell your brother I dated Higure-chan the other day, she's lost to him! Ciao!"

Miaka glared at the second car to leave her chewing the dust. "You didn't work when you were in high school, baka!"

Her mother took the news in stride. She hugged her daughter tight and told her to get some sleep. "We'll make ends meet, don't you worry about it. Just do your best in school okay?"

Keisuke gave her a head ruffle when he got in, and spent the whole night yelling at Tetsuya over the phone. Miaka lay in bed and stared at the dark ceiling, dreaming about money and chocolate sundaes. After awhile her mother came into the room and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm going to sell some things at the corporate garage sale tomorrow. It's for the benefit of a poor subdivision our company is supporting. I know you're tired, but can you sort out some clothes and other things you don't need anymore?"

Miaka's room was a mess. Ever since she began Jonan she had hardly spent time in this room. She was usually at work or cramming in the school library. Piles of old clothes, notebooks, CD's, bags and junk filled her closet to the brim.

Mindlessly, she started tossing things out when another wave of intense, yearning emotion flooded her heart. Miaka sank to the ground and fought the urge to weep. _Damn you Ramen! Ramen! owner! _ A slight breeze blew into the room and for a moment, Miaka thought she heard a something.

Her hand brushed against something flat and unfamiliar, underneath old clothes she kept at back of her cabinet. Miaka reached down and pulled out a photograph, a picture of seven strangers, with a younger version of her, smiling eagerly into the camera...


End file.
